Fading Hope
by sassyfriend
Summary: When Aragorn falls off the cliff during the warg battle Legolas despairs of ever seeing his friend again. Gimli tries to comfort him. In POV
1. Chapter 1

I nearly lifted the dying Orc off the ground in my anger at the words that came from the foul creature. "You lie!" I grabbed the Orc by his crude armor as the words venomously came out. The Orc's evil laugh was all I received in response. Gimli standing beside me was just as angry as I was. The Orc sneered at me and breathed his last. I let the nasty creature crash to the ground and the Orc's hand fell open, revealing our best friend's pendant. I felt the breath leave my lungs as if something sharp and heavy had hit me in the stomach. I heard Gimli's gasp as well as I pulled the pendent gently from the Orc's hand.

I felt my face grow hot and blankly stared at my comrade's most treasured possession. Suddenly, the thought dawned on me that Aragorn could very well be in great need of our help. We ran to the edge of the cliff. We stopped, but, to my horror, the only thing I could see was a dead Warg on a rocky ledge, but our friend was no where to be found. My brow furrowed deeply as I realized our friend was forever taken from us. A touch startled me from my thoughts.

"Get the wounded on horses. The wolves of Isengard will return." Théoden looked at me with a gentle expression. "Leave the dead." I felt the blood drain from my face. I felt like screaming at the Man but I knew nothing I could say or do would change the king's mind.

I felt him squeeze my shoulder briefly as we looked into each other's eyes since we had met. "Come." Was all he said in that moment, but I heard the sadness in his voice and watched as he went to go check on his people. I kept standing there as I turned my face back to Aragorn's final resting place. My body felt frozen too frozen to do anything but hold onto the only thing left of our best friend. Gimli said nothing the whole time after a brief moment he touched my arm.

"Come, Laddie. There wasn't anything we could've done."

I silently followed him back to Arod, helped Gimli up onto the saddle, and then I jumped up onto the horse and tugging the reins. Arod followed the other horses and riders. Arod nickered softly, sensing our sorrow, as I patted him softly on his mane. Gimli leaned his face onto my back, crying silently. I knew he was in tears because I felt my shirt becoming very damp in the back and I felt his arms which where wrapped around me shaking.

I had to fight very hard to keep my own feelings in check by biting my lip and glancing at Arod's mane. I refused to weep in front of the people who needed us so badly. I trailed my fingers through Arod's mane, trying to push the sorrow to the back of my mind; it was hard to do since my heart felt so empty. Later that evening we finally arrived at Helm's Deep and only then did I get to escape from the sight of the people.


	2. Chapter 2

Gimli found me sitting in our guest bedroom on my bed, holding the pendant that I had hidden in my pocket for the journey here.  
"Laddie?" I looked at my companion as the only answer. "Are you all right? You look...ill."

I nodded as I laid the preious jewel onto our bedside table. "I am just tired, mellon nín." I knew I was lying, but I didn't want Gimli to worry about me; he had his own grief to deal with.

"Mellon nín?" Gimli struggled to say the words, his voice holding an air of complete confusion. I shook my head in commiseration. I should have been aware that Gimli would not understand what I had just called him. I felt sobs climbing up my throat, but I choked them back for my comrade's sake.

"'Mellon nín' means 'my friend'." I answered softly. I turned my face away from him after I explained. Eru this hurt too much! I felt a weight beside me on the bed and I closed my eyes - the memories where hitting me so hard! The tender touch on my knee forced me to focus once again upon Gimli. The Dwarf looked so worried.

"You don't look good at all, Laddie."

"I...I am...all...right." my voice quavered and I closed my eyes again. I felt wetness fall onto my cheek and brushed it away with trembling fingers. It would do no good for Gimli to see me in tears like this! Gimli sat quietly beside me for a moment before he sighed. I felt his weight shift as he put his arm around me.

"Tell me about Aragorn," he requested. "I mean, I know a lot from what you two shared with me during the Fellowship's travels, but I would like to know more."

I opened my eyes staring at the wall. I knew I had to do this. Gimli sat quietly as I told him many more things about Aragorn that I had never before shared before, even with my own Ada who, of course, still knew a lot. Gimli said nothing the whole time, just focusing on what I shared. I tried to hold back my tears the whole time though, and my friend surprised me by knowing this.


	3. Chapter 3

"Laddie, what would you have done if you had tried to help Aragorn? You could've done nothing," Gimli said as he rubbed my back. "Something surely would've killed you too." I nodded sadly as I glanced at the wall again. The Dwarf grew silent once more as I gently leaned foreword and touched the pendant on the table. As I did, my vision wavered and a trail of wetness slid down my cheek again as I grasped my friend's beloved prize, pulling it to my chest. I felt the stinging of my eyes as I rubbed my thumb gently on the precious jewel that Arwen had given to Estel. Yes, Estel. I had always called the ranger that.

"Estel," I whispered. "Oh Estel!"

Gimli looked at me in sorrow, now knowing that the pain I carried would never fade. "I am sorry, Laddie." I heard his voice break and I put one of my arms around him. "He was so special," my comrade whispered.

"Yes," I agreed. "H-he still...is." Gimli hugged me furiously. We heard knocking on the bedroom door and Éowyn came into the room. I wiped my eyes before I turned to look her way. She had brought us a tray of food. "I was not sure if you wanted to have lunch, but I brought some just in case." Éowyn stopped speaking when she saw me looking at her.

"Just put it on the table, my lady," Gimli replied. Éowyn did so and then paused, frowning, and she gently touched my shoulder.

"I'm sorry for your loss." I tried to hide the tears that started to drip from my eyes. Gimli tried to shield me as well.

"Thank you for your kindness."

Éowyn nodded in understanding and left. I lay on my bed after she left. Gimli sat beside me after he shut and bolted the door. I felt the rub on my shoulder as I sobbed.I sobbed for a long time and then felt myself grow numb again. Gimli still sat with me. I felt so lonely, even with him by my side. Gimli continued trying to comfort me. I felt a blanket being wrapped around me and closed my eyes.

Gimli's pov

I tried to shield Legolas from Éowyn's sight after I saw him turn his face from her. After she left I locked and bolted the door for both our sakes. I saw Legolas had curled into a fetal ball and I sat beside him, rubbing his shoulder as he uncontrollably sobbed. After that, I saw a heavy numbness settle on him again, which left me feeling terrified.


	4. Chapter 4

Aragorn's pov

I knew I was in trouble the moment I realized my vambrace was caught in the Warg's saddle. I tried again and again to free myself, but nothing I did would work it free. I felt myself suddenly free falling down the edge of the cliff, the jerking sensation making me woozy and the sting of sharp, jagged rocks cutting through me as I tried to protect myself the best I could. Suddenly, the breath was knocked from me as I ended up hitting my head on a stone. And then I knew nothing until I woke several hours later, finding myself lying on my back in the sandy area.

I blinked in my confusion as I tried to look around while lying on my back because I could hear soft waves lapping, and the fact that my whole body felt the chilliness of being wet from head to toe. I didn't feel any rain and was surprised to find where I had ended up landing. "Oh, sweet Eru!" I thought as I tried getting up. Pain shot through me so I realized I would have to lie still and take an easy so my body could heal before trying a daring climb back up the steep rock-faced wall.

I wasn't sure how or if I could even manage to get back up there, though even though I had been a ranger for a long time, I knew that climbing would be very dangerous, if not fatal. I sighed, letting my eyes slip close. I would just sleep for awhile...

...

Legolas' pov

I struggled to wake myself up because I felt as if someone was watching me and it frightened me to my core. I felt a slight shift on the bed and opened my eyes. I could see a blurry figure leaning over me. I wiped my eyes and looked again. This time I could tell it was Gimli. The Dwarf was rubbing my arms, trying to warm me and I suddenly realized that I was freezing half to death.

"Gimli?" I questioned.

"It's alright, Laddie. Just have to get you warmed up." He ever so gently took my hand and rubbed it roughly yet carefully with a blanket. I felt that the blanket was hot, not enough to burn me but hot none the less. I looked at him with a silent question in my eyes. "It's a heat stone," Gimli responded quietly.

"Feels nice," I whispered and my friend nodded, smiling a bit. "It would have been useful on those mountain ranges, for the Hobbits especially." I yawned sleepily feeling the need to sleep again.

...

Gimli' pov

"Laddie, stay awake! I need you to get warm and if you go back to sleep you might slip farther away." I saw Legolas' heavy lidded eyes about to slip close again, but when I said that, he got a deeply sad and worried look in his eyes.

"Gimli, I need sleep…"

I nodded in concern. "You are in a state of shock." The Elf sighed as I continued to rub the blanket firmly against him.

"Ara-...Our friend..." Legolas stopped speaking and I saw the wetness shining in my companion's blue orbs.

"Aragorn would've done and said the same thing?" I asked.

The Elf's eyes closed and a trail of tears slid down the sides of his face. "Estel…was always looking out…for us," he whispered and a sob shook his body.

I saw the hint of a blush on his fair face as he tried curling away from me. I knew he was ashamed and embarrassed at being seen weeping like a child. I gently touched his side as another sob shook his frame. "It's alright to cry," I murmured as he tried hiding his face in the covers.

...

Aragorn' pov

Suddenly, I opened my eyes and gasped, realizing that if I let sleep overcome me I would die. "Dear Eru, I am so tired," I prayed silently. "If I do not make it, please watch over my friends! I love them so much!" I fell quiet as I listened to the sweet singing of birds that flew overhead. The sounds they made were so comforting and it reminded me of the songs that Legolas would sing to me as a child when I would wake up from nightmares, or how when we would return injured to my father in Rivendell, or when I would become ill on our travels; how we stayed by each other's side.

I smiled sadly and was surprised when a tear ran down my cheek. I knew my friends had to be thinking of me because I couldn't stop thinking of them. Even Gimli, that Dwarf, could annoy me so badly at times, but despite that, he had a true friend's heart inside that stout body of his. I laughed softly when I thought of the funny moments we had all shared.

...

Legolas' pov

I was so ashamed as another sob tore from me. I thought I had been grieved deeply over Mithrandir's death and then Boromir's death, but this sorrow that had taken hold of me was far more painful and far deeper than anything I had felt before. If ever I thought my heart had been ripped to shreds before, this time it was even truer.

I felt a rub on my side and heard sobs coming from my short friend. "I know you miss him..."

I sat up slowly, turned and wrapped my arms around the Dwarf. "I'll be...alright," I promised brokenly. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and buried his face on my shirt sleeve. I knew he was scared for me; I was too. I was also frightened for him - I did not want him to lose another friend, but I felt myself growing ever weaker since we arrived at Helm's deep.

I touched his hair with my chin as we sobbed together.


	5. Chapter 5

Aragorn's pov

It had been hours since I had fallen from the cliff, and I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. My world felt like it was spinning round in a very unpleasant fashion.

I must have drifted off again because I was either dreaming or having a vision of my beloved Arwen. I missed her terribly since we had left Rivendell. I was sorry we had had a fight the day we left and would've given anything to tell her I was sorry and beg for forgiveness!

Gimli's pov

Legolas had grown silent after our crying, and was now glancing at the wall again while I rubbed the blanket over his arms once more. He looked so frail and vulnerable.

I had hardly ever seen him this way.

I thought back to the day when Gandalf had fallen.

Legolas hadn't realized, but I had been watching him as he stood on that mountain side. His eyes showed sadness and deep confusion. I had noticed the bruise on his forehead and was both surprised and alarmed by it.

It was only the next morning that I saw him weeping while he sat by a mallorn tree. I said nothing then, and I don't think he noticed I was there. Then my mind went back to the day Boromir died.

He had broken down when he helped take care of the body of our friend. It had taken a long while to convince him that he had got there as fast as he could and was not to be held responsible.

Legolas' pov

It felt so strange for Gimli to be taking care of me, but care for me he did, and for once I didn't seem to mind.

In fact, I felt nothing save for an aching pain that wouldn't go away, no matter what was happening around me.

I felt closed off from everything like nothing really mattered. I gave a sigh and Gimli looked up at me, but I couldn't meet his eyes.

Gimli's pov

Legolas let out a sigh and I looked up at him, but he didn't meet my eyes. I didn't know what to make of it, but I saw his shoulders slump even farther and knew that he had to be feeling the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

"Aragorn would've been a great king," I said softly. I saw him give a slight nod and finally glance at me.

Aragorn's pov

I must have fallen asleep because I felt a soft nudge on my shoulder. I groaned and opened my eyes, then blinked praying this wasn't some sort of strange dream.

"B...Bre...go?" I asked, barely able to form the words in my amazement.

The horse whinnied in answer. "What are you doing all the way down here?"

I could not imagine how my horse had got down here without breaking his neck. He nuzzled me again and knelt down.

I understood and grasped at his mane, pulling myself onto his back. Slowly, the dark-colored warhorse lifted himself up and got me out of the sandy area.

...

Legolas' pov

Silently, I laid upon the bed again. I felt so weak. Gimli was trying to coax me to eat some of the food Eowyn had just brought to us. I tiredly shook my head, refusing it. Gimli placed the food back on the plate, wiped his hands on a napkin and then sat beside me on the bed.

"Legolas, you've got to keep your strength up," he said gently. I shook my head. I didn't want to live anymore, not if my best friend had left this world.

...

Gimli's pov

My Elven companion had reached a high level of depression: I could tell it by the way he was acting. Legolas had closed his eyes but wasn't asleep. He was in tears, even though he was trying to hide it.

"Lad, I'm so sorry he's gone."

A half-choked sob escaped his lips and I gently rubbed his shoulder. I didn't know how to comfort him.


End file.
